through karen’s eyes pt- 1 (byler)
Karen watches as her son grows up, makes friends, falls in love, and experiences untold horrors
- she always wanted a girl, when her first child, nancy, had been a girl karen had been overjoyed
- the thing was, girls were easy for karen, after all she was a girl- woman probably was the correct term but sometimes she still felt like the naïve young girl she was in her youth
- when she had a boy, mike, she was terrified. she had no idea what to expect, how to act, she was so scared of messing up and it’s not as though ted would be of any help, he would only be there to criticise her mistakes
- nancy turned out studious, quiet, slightly uptight, rather quick to anger, feminine, she was so many things karen was
- mike was rambunctious, stubborn, also studious, outgoing
- on his first day of school karen was so surprised at how scared he was, clinging tightly onto her and even nancy with whom he regularly bickered
- she was happy when he came home regaling tales of his teacher and other students and of his new friend, will
- it was a long time before she met this boy whom mike constantly talked about
- he was so silent and nervous when she first met him, karen couldn’t understand how he had become friends with mike
- over the years will came out of his shell more and more, with small smiles eventually growing to wide grins in her presence
- mikeandwill eventually grew to mikeandwillandlucas, then in fourth grade to mikeandwillandlucasanddustin
- the boys were a rowdy bunch and karen turned the basement into a space for them to play their games or whatever they spent so much time doing
- she liked all of the boys, however, she always had a soft spot for will, he was after all mikes first friend, and he felt like a second son to karen
- she still vividly remembers when he confessed to her about his father, she had noticed the way he would flinch at movements and always seemed to have various bruises (and various excuses), when he had left that day she cried over how someone could be so horrible to such a sweet little boy
- when lonnie finally left will spent a few nights at the wheelers house while joyce and jonathan tried to settle the dust
- one night she caught will sobbing in mikes arms in the kitchen, she decided not to interrupt, seeing the way her son was soft and comforting in a way she had never seen
- will was good for mike, she decided, he was a calming influence that he desperately needed
- when will went missing, saw an unbridled panic in her son’s eyes, but she would have taken that anyway over the broken looks when he collapsed in her arms one night- will was dead
- that night karen found herself crying over the fate of will byers
- when will was found, karen was dumbfounded, she knew there was more to the story than anyone seemed to be letting on, she knew both mike and nancy were involved, she could see it in their eyes, their new closeness, their tears shed behind locked doors
- most of all she knew from the government agents coming to their house making them sign all sorts of forms with stories of a russian girl- stories that seemed off for some reason but who was she to go against what the government says
- she felt her heart break for her children, forced to experience something, some untold trauma she had no idea about and probably never would
- most of all her heart broke for will byers, seeing him in the hospital looking so small and scared and weak
- she felt better seeing the two boys together, the way they seemed to relax around one another, the small smile that appeared whenever they were together, the giggles that erupted between them and with no one else
